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Can you hear me?
That was the voice of Alek, but I was too petrified to respond to him. What if doing so only showed how far gone I really was? What if all of this was still in my mind. What if—
Cassandra said she was a half-blood, but that can’t be true, can it?Ajax’s voice was more soothing than the separate pressure in my mind.
“Interesting,” Alek said, then turned to Ajax. “She looks dead on her feet,” he said. “Why don’t you let her rest and we’ll discuss the rest of this tomorrow evening.”
Evening. Because the sun was almost rising now. How had our schedules gotten so backward?
And he wasn’t wrong, I was exhausted.
Exhausted and terrified and confused as all hell but somehow also mesmerized by it all.
Ajax nodded, then took my hand, gently hauling me from the chair and leading me through the beautiful estate until we found what I could only assume was his room because his scent was all over it.
Ajax shut the door behind us, and I instantly relaxed. All the tension in my muscles waned as I surveyed the room—simple yet elegant with tones of black and purple, a king-size bed tucked against the centermost wall, and ancient looking books scattered here and there.
“You haven’t said much since we got here,” Ajax said, leaning against the closed door.
I walked to his bed and sank atop it. “Can you blame me?”
“No,” he said. He motioned toward the bed. “You should really get some sleep, Grace.”
Heat sizzled down my spine, memories of what happened right before the attack skipping through my mind. Then a heavy dose of fear followed right along behind it. My mind felt like it hung by a thread and one more thought…one more acknowledgement of everything that happened would break me.
“Will you be sleeping here?” I asked, suddenly terrified that if he left, I might wake up from this nightmare and never see him again.
He nodded, a longing in his eyes that I’m sure matched my own. “I have to speak to Alek again before I come to bed.”
Hope deflated in my chest, but I nodded. “Those men,” I said. “They won’t find us here, will they?”
A muscle in his jaw ticked. “Not a chance,” he said, his tone gravelly. “You’re safe here, Grace. I promise.”
Those words wrapped around me like a warm blanket. “Safe,” I said, testing out the word. I felt safe with him, that wasn’t a question. But in my own mind? That didn’t feel like a safe space right now.
“I promise, Grace,” he said, crossing the distance between us. He slid a hand along my cheek. “We will figure this out together.”
I nodded, leaning into his touch. Somehow, his words, his touch, the bed with his comforting cedar and moss smell on the sheets, was enough to keep my panic on a breath’s edge.
“Sleep,” he said. “You’ll feel better if you do. And I’ll come to you when we’re done.”
I blew out a breath, my eyes heavy as I laid down on his bed, tucking myself under his covers. His delightful scent swarmed me, enveloping me into a relaxed state of clam, and I fell into a sleep I couldn’t fight even if I wanted to.
* * *
I was somewherebetween sleeping and waking, just coming out of a dream that had nothing to do with violent men trying to kill me and everything to do with Ajax and the way he made me feel. I lingered in that heavy space between two worlds when I felt the bed shift.
Instinctively, I rolled toward the warmth I felt settling behind me, and I inhaled a deep breath of cedar and moss.
Ajax.
Had I slipped back into my dream?
My nerve endings sprang to life, a hunger wrenching in my core.
Powerful hands slid over my waist, tugging me the rest of the way until my body was flush with his. Heat zapped through my veins, my heart kicking up as I pried open my eyes that were still heavy with sleep.
“You’re back,” I whispered, smoothing my hands over his bare chest, relishing the feel of his muscles beneath my fingertips.
